I have heard it said that five percent of the people think, ten percent think they think, and the other eighty five percent would rather die than think. This essay is for the ten percent that think they think. I want to feed your mind, you don’t have to think like me, you just have to think.
I have said that to know the truth you have to know what some of the lies are. That is because if you believe the lies you won’t see clearly the real truth they want to hide from you. I am not going to tell you what the lies are, you have to think and ponder those things yourself.
Whats Your Soul Say?
What i can do is ask some questions to guide you into asking yourself the tough questions that you need to understand. No one can do this for you, you have to be willing to go there in mind and spirit regardless of how it makes you feel. There is the main point, most people are afraid of thinking because they don’t want anything that makes them feel bad. Most people want sunshine and rainbows all the time, they don’t want to think because they are afraid of their own thoughts.
You can overcome these fears and still be happy. You can ask yourself the questions and think about the answers for a long time. The truth is once you begin to enjoy thinking, you might find it difficult to ever stop. In zen they talk about enlightenment, I don’t care what you want to call it; thinking is good for you. Most people reach a point that they stop growing, they stop learning and become comfortable with they way things are. I believe this is unhealthy. To truly rise above the status quo you have to learn, grow, and push your comfort zone everyday.
Practice Makes Perfect
Thinking requires breaking your comfort habit and exploring things that make you uncomfortable. Thinking for long periods with no direction will spin your wheels and not take you very far. The goal is to reach a destination in mind and spirit. To be content with life, to be happy and at peace with all beings.
If you find you are always angry or you get upset easily, if you are bitter in spirit; you have a long ways to go. Not everything is about you, not everything is about your fragile insecure ego. When you learn to think your ego learns to relax, you don’t have to always be right. This is where virtue comes in, a person of virtue can be patient enough to learn something new, no matter how long it takes to understand.
The answers won’t come in a second, an hour, a week, or even a year. The thought process takes a long time to become clear. To begin start asking questions about what you already know, challenge the answers. Make arguments for and against them until you are completely confused. Then look to see what the lies are until you have truths you understand. Only when we lose ourselves can we find our true self.
Be Patient
It’s important to be patient with your mind. If you are in a hurry you may as well stay in your small superficial world and never bother with these things. If you are in a rush to get somewhere you had better hope you have already gained the ability to think for yourself. Learning to think for yourself in your own way is the most rewarding gift you can give yourself. Freedom of thought, Freedom to control your thoughts, to be free from manipulation of the media, news, and propaganda will make you happier in the long run.
Most people live their lives on auto pilot, only thinking what they already think they know. Pride is the enemy. To navigate the world of pure reason you have to always be a beginner in spirit. In the experts mind there are few possibilities, in the beginners mind there are many. At first there will be confusion about why there are so many possibilities. Find the ones you like to think about and ponder them in depth.
Take out the distraction from your life and see what is left to think about. If you take the distractions away you have more time to think about what’s important. Learn some new skill or trade. See how long it takes you to master it. Then move to something else, and master that too.